Mainstream media has extensively covered efforts to reduce reliance on fossil and nuclear fuels in favor of so-called renewable energy, chief among these being solar and wind energy. Residential and business electric power customers have taken steps to reduce their dependence on the commercial electric power distribution network (commonly called “the grid”) and the electric power utilities that sell electric power through it by installing renewable energy systems.
Conventional renewable energy systems typically connect straight back to the electrical distribution panel near the electrical service entrance and kilowatt-hr meter. For these conventional installations, a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) meter (i.e., a revenue grade meter) is installed and captures the amount of renewable energy generated, where revenue grade metering of an energy source provides an energy metering accuracy of at least 0.2 percent. The two meters can easily be read at the same time since they are co-located.
For a commercial business, for example, the renewable energy system may be located on the roof of a large building that is distant from the commercial kilowatt-hr meter. Additionally, the commercial renewable energy installation may be somewhat distributed requiring many separate REC meters where their location would not be convenient for reading.
Improvements in these areas would prove beneficial to the art.